I purchased the Vector recently for use as a travel razor when I didnt want to deal with checking a bag, mailing blades ahead, or general TSA tomfoolery. I purchased from an Indian eBay seller along with 5 blades (4 + 1) for around $7. It took a little over two weeks to arrive, just in time for use on a trip.
The build quality of the Vector is indeed uninspiring. While it looks almost identical to the Contour Plus manufactured for the European market, it contains absolutely no metal (other than possibly the grips of the blade holder mechanism). It is very light weight but does feel balanced and grippy in your hand, much better than a disposable. I didnt have any trouble with lively pivot mentioned by others. I think getting a proper pivot reaction is a function of having the blade seated 100% correctly which does take a bit more effort than you might think.
The Vector blades have a green Aloe lube strip that absorbs quite a bit of water and is very snotty (for lack of a better word) during the first couple of uses. The strip gets gooey to the point that you can see a string of material sticking as you pull the blade away from your face. This is similar to the Fusion strips and Schick Hydro gel, but calms down to normal cartridge lube strip with minimal snottiness after a couple of shaves.
Shave quality from the Vector blades was on par with what Ive got from most other cartridge blades and disposables including the Sensor3, Mach3, Schick ST2, and Bic Metal. A single WTG pass gives nearly DFS, though its fading by mid-day. A 2-pass WTG/ATG gives true DFS that lasts into the early evening. That said, as is the case with all other carts, going 2-pass is taxing on the skin and can lead to notable burn by the third consecutive day. As such, this will likely only be my travel razor of choice for short trips and/or work trips where I will be visiting customers less frequently than 3 days in a row. As long as I take a day off after two consecutive 2-pass shave days, even if you still go 1-pass WTG, the burn can be minimized or eliminated.
Results were similar with bowl-lathered Proraso and Barbasol Yellow. After nearly 6 months of DE with only occasional cart use (traveling or in a hurry) I found myself quickly reverting to old bad habits like taking long sweeping strokes and not rinsing often enough. Focusing on decent technique similar to DE, specifically short repetitive strokes and frequent rinsing, yielded a much more acceptable result both in terms of closeness and comfort.
While the Vector will be a perfectly acceptable travel razor, one I wont fret over losing if I leave it behind in a hotel bathroom, Im not convinced it will last longer than a year or two given the fairly flimsy build quality. If/when it does break Ill likely try to replace it with a European Contour Plus or one of the Schick Atra clones. I cant see myself paying vintage metal Atra prices for a travel razor, however, and I do prefer the pivot over a fixed head like the Trac II (based on my experience with the Schick ST2).
Overall, I would recommend the Vector to anyone who wants to try an Atra style razor at a minimal cost, but dont expect it to be the end-all of Atra razors if you end up using it frequently. The Vector blades are also quite acceptable AFTER you work through snottiness of the lube strip during the first couple of shaves. Ill be trying more generic Atra blades in the coming months, specifically the DG Dorcos, Freds Personnas, and Wal-Mart Wilkinsons.
The build quality of the Vector is indeed uninspiring. While it looks almost identical to the Contour Plus manufactured for the European market, it contains absolutely no metal (other than possibly the grips of the blade holder mechanism). It is very light weight but does feel balanced and grippy in your hand, much better than a disposable. I didnt have any trouble with lively pivot mentioned by others. I think getting a proper pivot reaction is a function of having the blade seated 100% correctly which does take a bit more effort than you might think.
The Vector blades have a green Aloe lube strip that absorbs quite a bit of water and is very snotty (for lack of a better word) during the first couple of uses. The strip gets gooey to the point that you can see a string of material sticking as you pull the blade away from your face. This is similar to the Fusion strips and Schick Hydro gel, but calms down to normal cartridge lube strip with minimal snottiness after a couple of shaves.
Shave quality from the Vector blades was on par with what Ive got from most other cartridge blades and disposables including the Sensor3, Mach3, Schick ST2, and Bic Metal. A single WTG pass gives nearly DFS, though its fading by mid-day. A 2-pass WTG/ATG gives true DFS that lasts into the early evening. That said, as is the case with all other carts, going 2-pass is taxing on the skin and can lead to notable burn by the third consecutive day. As such, this will likely only be my travel razor of choice for short trips and/or work trips where I will be visiting customers less frequently than 3 days in a row. As long as I take a day off after two consecutive 2-pass shave days, even if you still go 1-pass WTG, the burn can be minimized or eliminated.
Results were similar with bowl-lathered Proraso and Barbasol Yellow. After nearly 6 months of DE with only occasional cart use (traveling or in a hurry) I found myself quickly reverting to old bad habits like taking long sweeping strokes and not rinsing often enough. Focusing on decent technique similar to DE, specifically short repetitive strokes and frequent rinsing, yielded a much more acceptable result both in terms of closeness and comfort.
While the Vector will be a perfectly acceptable travel razor, one I wont fret over losing if I leave it behind in a hotel bathroom, Im not convinced it will last longer than a year or two given the fairly flimsy build quality. If/when it does break Ill likely try to replace it with a European Contour Plus or one of the Schick Atra clones. I cant see myself paying vintage metal Atra prices for a travel razor, however, and I do prefer the pivot over a fixed head like the Trac II (based on my experience with the Schick ST2).
Overall, I would recommend the Vector to anyone who wants to try an Atra style razor at a minimal cost, but dont expect it to be the end-all of Atra razors if you end up using it frequently. The Vector blades are also quite acceptable AFTER you work through snottiness of the lube strip during the first couple of shaves. Ill be trying more generic Atra blades in the coming months, specifically the DG Dorcos, Freds Personnas, and Wal-Mart Wilkinsons.
